This Week in Mobile: the Apple Rumour Mill, Instagram's Messenger Upgrade, and Steam Ports to Mobile

This Week in Mobile brings you the latest news about everything mobile every week. Check back every Monday at 1 pm to get a roundup of the latest news about technology, app development and more, curated for you.

This week’s theme is Apple season. It’s that time of year again! Get ready to pick some apples…wait, no, wrong season. It’s Apple™ season, and we’re only a day away from everyone’s favourite September event, focusing on iPhones and more.

So, naturally as the event draws closer, the rumour mill begins to churn. And while everyone is focused on what Apple has planned for their next line of products, Instagram and LinkedIn have been quietly making some innovations of their own.

Call it a long shot, but Patently Apple is reporting that Apple is looking into a bezel-free screen capable of 4K resolution for 2016’s iPhone 7. Rumour comes by way of Asahi Glass, a reported supplier involved.

Without this year’s iPhone even announced, I won’t put too much in this rumour just yet. Apple is known to try different approaches and discard them if they don’t prove to be practical.

Time for an Upgrade

Do you use Instagram’s Direct messenger? If you’re shaking your head like the majority of Instagram users, maybe it’s time you reconsidered.

With Instagram’s latest update, Direct has been given a major feature increase. From your newsfeed, you can share images you scroll across using Direct, and even respond to a photo with a photo of your own. Direct will even support Group conversations of up to 15 people now.

“We wanted to design Direct around conversations that are very visual and very rich. It was a natural extension, honestly, for our community,” says Ann Baum, a software engineer who works on Direct.

Can I get a “finally!”? Welcome to instant messaging in 2015, LinkedIn. Away with the archaic email-style messenger, LinkedIn’s revamped messenger shares a similar design aesthetic to Facebook’s mobile messenger – complete with .gif and sticker sharing.

The overhaul gives LinkedIn’s messenger a much more casual feel to it; which is a warm welcome from the formality of its previous iteration. Glad to see LinkedIn loosen up a bit.

Gaming this Week

Have some time to kill on the go? Popular Steam game, The Dear God, has launched for mobile. Dear God blends challenging platforming with RPG elements and stunning visuals. For $6.99, The Dear God should keep you busy for any commute.

For lovers of QWOP and Octodad: Dadliest Catch, this one’s for you. Developer Bossa Studios brings their popular Steam game (it’s a good week for mobile ports!), I am Bread to iOS and Android. Hilarity is guaranteed to ensure with this less-than-intuitive platformer about getting (literally) toasted.

And finally, more Apple news! Ahead of tomorrow’s expected announcement of games coming to Apple TV, Apple launches a gaming focused Twitter feed. For lovers of Twitter and mobile games like us, this feed is a match made in heaven.

Are you excited for Apple’s event tomorrow? Are you downloading any of this weeks game releases? Sound off in the comment and let us know!

Check back next Monday at 1 pm for the latest tech news curated for you.